A/HRC/28/45 traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and, in many cases, permanent disabilities. Mental health issues extend to the wider population. Overall, according to WHO, 20 per cent of the Gazan population, some 360,000 people, are suffering from mental health challenges following the hostilities.70 42. The Palestinian people in Gaza were already suffering the severe human cost of past hostilities and the blockade when the situation was further compounded by the recent escalation in July and August 2014. The tragic deaths by drowning of hundreds of migrants from Gaza as they attempted to make perilous journeys across the Mediterranean in overcrowded boats in September 2014 is evidence of just how desperate many people there have become.71 The desperate situation in Gaza is a stark illustration of the often-referenced summary of the aims of the United Nations: that there can be no peace and security without development, no development without peace and security, and neither without respect for human rights.72 D. Settlements History and recent developments 43. As the Secretary-General has repeatedly stated, settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is “illegal under international law and runs totally counter to the pursuit of a two-State solution”.73 Israel is prohibited under article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention from transferring parts of its own civilian population into the territory that it occupies. The settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, stand in stark contravention of that obligation.74 The Secretary-General has consistently urged Israel to reverse its settlement activities.75 However, the number of settlements and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, has continued to grow, from 10,608 settlers in 197276 to between 500,000 and 650,000 today.77 The finding of a commission mandated by the Security Council to examine the situation relating to settlements in 1979 that the settlement policy of Israel was causing “profound and irreversible changes of a geographical and demographic nature in those territories, including Jerusalem” remains pertinent today. 78 44. As attempts to ensure a lasting peace have again faltered, the settlements stand as arguably the biggest obstacle to peace and the two-State solution. Settlement activity must be ended if the two-State solution is to have any chance. It is therefore particularly concerning, in the months following the 26 August ceasefire agreement, that the Israeli 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 www.who.int/features/2014/gazans-mental-health-services/en/. http://euromid.org/en/article/612. A/59/2005, para. 17. See www.unsco.org/Documents/Statements/SG/2014/SG%20statement%201%20September%202014.pdf and www.unsco.org/Documents/Statements/MSCB/2008/Security%20Council%20Briefing%20%2021%20October%202014.pdf. Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (A/ES-10/273 and Corr.1), para. 120; CCPR/C/ISR/CO/4, para. 17. www.un.org/sg/statements/index.asp?nid=8120. www.fmep.org/settlement_info/settlement-info-and-tables/stats-data/comprehensive-settlementpopulation-1972-2006. A/HRC/28/44, sect. III. S/13450, para. 233. 13